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I'm signing the contract and putting down the deposit this week on my new garage building! Its been a fairly drawn out process, so far, with a few different contractors and designs and sticker shocks along the way. We have settled on a 24x36x14 rectanglular wood framed steel building with a concrete floor that will be reinforced under the area where the car lift will be. Windows, insulation, car lift and electrical to be added as the budget allows. Its called a "shed" in the plans not a garage, for some reason. Heres the specs from the contract:
Shed Build -Build 24’x36’x14’ shed -Concrete pad to be 24’x30’ at 4” thick with rebar 36” OC. Thickened edge 12”x12” -Thickened 8” concrete as well as 2’OC rebar over lift area -Frame walls 14’ high 2x6 frame -26 ga Ag panel on roof and walls -Engineered truss system for roof -No soffits -One 12’x12’ overhead door (insulated) -one 10’x8’ overhead door (insulated) -One 36” service door *This price includes labor, material and cleanup
Its a learning process for me, never having done anything like this before. I read extensively all I can find on the web and the other garage build threads here. I think I'm on top of it, but you don't know what you don't know, as the saying goes. This garage is a replacement for another building that has been removed last year. The code enforcement officer has been out and given the green light. There's no permit process or HOA or any restrictions in the town where I live that would be potential trouble. My neighbors are all aware of the plan and have no objection, in fact, directly across the alley from my backyard another neighbor is building a very much larger barn shaped building to house his car collection. I'm very confident in the contractor. He's local, well known, experienced, and has been willing to work thru the process with me to get the plan and price in my budget.
My plan is to set this into the SW corner of my backyard with a 2ft space from the back and side wood fence. The large door facing east with the lift inside would be easily accessed from my 24' sliding gate to the alley. The smaller overhead door, also facing east, is mainly for easy access to the mower, generator, motorcycle, storage etc. The people door would be in the NW side facing the backdoor of my house. Inside the NW corner is for workbench and tools. Unless plans change...
I'm looking forward to having a place to work on my old truck (and other projects&hobbys) that isn't gravel or pasture or the front driveway of my house with my wife unhappy about that. Right now its at the farm, where its been, off and on, for about 15 years. I'm wondering if that excitement has me overlooking anything? What do you fella's think? Is there anything I ought to know based on y'alls experience? I have a lot of respect for the knowledge and willingness to share, here. Thanks for any input!
I've had 2 buildings built
30'x30'x12'
36'x88'x16'
both buildings I did 1 foot of overhang on the ends and the soffits.
these are both pole buildings. Both have double 2x12 header for truss to sit on
my son in law and my daughter just built a 50'x80'x16' pole building as well
my one piece of advise is to make sure before tge concrete pour they put down visqueen plastic barrier. Keeps the ground from sucking all the moisture out of the concrete too fast
and my 36x88 isn't big enough..
don't forget drains in the floor if you want them. I did drains in my 30x60 but not in my 36x88. I think the slope of the floor hurt my back being on my feet all day in that shop with drains.
the 16' side wall I was able to do an upstairs 36x44 party room
Rethink the 14' side wall.
Last edited by bigwin56f100; Oct 27, 2025 at 01:14 PM.
I'm with Kevin on the wall height. That extra 2 feet is nothing in cost in the big picture and will give an immense amount of flexibility to your building. When I had mine built, my guy recommended 16' walls and 14' doors. It allows for 8 foot high storage or mezzanine, and the ability to park a motorhome inside, which even if you never do, someday you will need to sell the place and there's a lot more resale value there. The other thing is don't skimp on the insulation. Mine is wrapped in R21 fiberglass, roof and walls and it never freezes in the winter and stays comfortable in the summer.
Here are a few things I like more and more as time goes on.
1. I did a 2' clear section at the top of the South wall. Lets in a lot of light especially before I had the electric service in.
2. Window high on the back wall where I plan to put a 14 x 20 (or 30) loft area.
3. Another option that didn't add much cost was the 12 x 40 lean to area. Did this for the things that don't need to stay dry but want out of the direct weather. Firewood, mower etc. Added benefit of covering the Man Door area!
I like your plans - sounds like you have it thought out. What you're getting will be so much nicer than working in the driveway. Plus, you will find excuses to just go out and stare at the lift and grin!
The old part of my shop is a 24x36 pole building. Before I retired I added a 24x40 extension, very much like you described. In one of the bays I park my 3/4T extended cab long box pickup. It has a heavy game-proof front bumper and a receiver hitch on the back. With the nose up against the back wall, I have to be careful to not smash my shins on the hitch if the door is closed. If I had it to do over, I'd go 30x instead of 24x.
As a builder, I know 24 is a standard dimension for trusses and anything wider bumps the cost upward.
You talk about 2’ from the fence. If the fence is on or near your property line, that 2’ will never comply with any accessory building set-back zoning requirement anywhere on this country.
Check with the building/zoning inspectors before finalizing your plans.
When I built my first building they wanted me to be 20' off the back of the property and 10" off the sides I went to the town ship and got a variance so I could go 5'
on the side and 10 off the back claimed it was a hard ship because it would be wasted space. They gave it to me.
I would recommend a footer under the lift columns, mine was 12-18" deep and the full width of the lift. They basically dug out a "trough" in the floor and lined it with plastic and rebar, then poured the floor. Made it a solid install pad for the lift.
w
After having a new garage built five years ago, I can recommend three things:
1) Do not hang anything on the walls or make shelves until you insulate and put up wall covering. Once you start hanging things, it will become hard to want to take it all down to properly insulate and do the walls. I know you said as time and budget allows......but think about doing it sooner than later. The insulation will pay itself back several times over and will increase the value of the garage when someday the property has to be sold.
2) Leave dedicated area for a place to pee. Not fun to go into the house or outside when nature urgently calls. Even if it's running a funnel and hose out the side wall to a buried lime/gravel barrel...you won't ever regret planning for this needed feature.
3) Plan a place to put up a heat pump someday. Both outside for the compressor/condenser and inside for the head unit. Three years after I built my garage I put in a heat pump - which I love. But the outside unit needs to be considered for airflow clearance and the indoor wall unit needs to be positioned for best direction flow. The heat pump in my opinion is better than salamander heaters, electric fan forced hot air heaters, propane heaters, etc. The heat pump is quiet and low maintenance and has no fumes. If you do the insulation to the max practical amount you can afford, the heat pump will quickly cool the place in summer and warm it up in winter. I don't know if Ag panel alone will keep in heat in winter and stay cool in summer - other folks here might share their "If I were to do it all over again' stories.
But congrats on the garage....it will fill up fast but you'll love it the first time you can put down your tools and leave everything right where it is until you can finish a project days or weeks later - compared to doing the same project outside or at someone else's place.
Tom
plan your electrical well... breaker box and outlets... lights on seperate circuits..add up your lights needed and what type... I volt for plug in over hard wired... easier to change out when needed...
Always go LED. Add up the base plugs you need... then double it. Also split the circuits here too Place them high on the wall so they are not covered with crap or shelving... also plan for future use... that bigger air compressor or welder or plasma cutter or heat pump... a 200 amp box isn't much
Speaking of electrical, when I had my shop wired, the guy I used did a lot of commercial and industrial wiring. For the outlets he used 4 circuits, 2 on the north end and 2 on the south end, and staggered the plugs so every other one was on a different circuit. This way, if you have equipment or extension cords running things in the same area, you can plug them into adjacent outlets and not overload a circuit. It's worked out well. It's something a typical residential electrician may not think about. fyi.
I am so jealous of all this. I have a small city house and my tools and my wife park indoors. My truck is out in the weather. @51fred I like those pics and the details you described.
I agree wholeheartedly on the extra wall height, you won't regret it. One other thing to consider is a commercial man door that opens out. Can't be kicked in near as easily and will add a bit of security.
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